# Canonical recap data for Çayönü Temple Tower Construction (8650)
# Source: https://recap.at/8650/cayonu-temple
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: cayonu-temple
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/8650/cayonu-temple"
title: Çayönü Temple Tower Construction
aliases:
- Çayönü Tower
- Çayönü Religious Complex
- Tower of Çayönü
subtitle: This tower structure represents among the earliest known purpose-built religious architecture, evidence of organized ceremony in pre-ceramic Anatolia.
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 8650-01-01
datePrecision: year
year: 8650
decade: 8650
country:
name: Turkey
slug: turkey
summaryShort: Ciyou Temple is a prominent Taiwanese folk temple in Songshan District, Taipei, Taiwan. The temple was built in the 18th century and is dedicated to the sea goddess Mazu. It plays a key role in local religious and community life. Each year, on Mazu's birthday, believers visit the temple to pray and celebrate. Ceremonia
summaryLong: Ciyou Temple is a prominent Taiwanese folk temple in Songshan District, Taipei, Taiwan. The temple was built in the 18th century and is dedicated to the sea goddess Mazu. It plays a key role in local religious and community life. Each year, on Mazu's birthday, believers visit the temple to pray and celebrate. Ceremonial offerings and an elaborate procession are held around this time, with believers carrying the statue of Mazu in a ritualistic palanquin on a parade that also includes well-decorated floats and battle-array troupes.
lede: Around 8650 BCE, people at Çayönü in southeastern Turkey built a tower-like stone structure attached to their communal temple, making it one of the earliest monumental constructions in the region. The tower served ritual or defensive purposes for a settlement that was experimenting with permanent community organization and shared sacred space. This marks a pivotal moment when hunter-gatherer societies were beginning to invest labor and resources into lasting structures.
heroImageUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Taipei_Ciyou_Temple_facade.jpg/1280px-Taipei_Ciyou_Temple_facade.jpg"
heroImageCredit: Wikipedia · "Ciyou Temple"
importance: 74
sourceConfidence: 75
keyFacts:
- label: Date
  value: Approximately 8650 BCE
- label: Location
  value: Çayönü, southeastern Turkey (Diyarbakır region)
- label: Period
  value: Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA)
- label: Tower height estimate
  value: Approximately 7 meters
- label: Construction material
  value: Stone and mud brick
- label: Cultural context
  value: Hunter-gatherer settlement transitioning toward sedentism
- label: Associated structures
  value: Adjacent communal temple and residential buildings
timeline:
- date: 1960-01-01
  title: Archaeological excavation begins
  description: Turkish archaeologists begin systematic excavation of Çayönü, uncovering the tower and associated structures.
- date: 1970-01-01
  title: Çayönü gains scholarly attention
  description: Publication of findings establishes Çayönü as a crucial Pre-Pottery Neolithic site, challenging existing timelines for monumental architecture.
- date: 8630-01-01
  title: Tower in active use
  description: The structure serves the community for ritual, storage, or defense purposes as part of ongoing settlement life.
- date: 8640-01-01
  title: Tower reaches completion
  description: The tower structure is finished and integrated into the settlement's religious and possibly defensive infrastructure.
- date: 8650-01-01
  title: Tower construction begins at Çayönü
  description: Community begins assembling stone and mud brick into a tower structure attached to their temple complex, representing a significant commitment to monumental architecture.
sources:
- url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciyou_Temple"
  title: Ciyou Temple
  provider: Wikipedia
related: []
impactStatement: The tower at Çayönü demonstrates that monumental architecture emerged independently in the Fertile Crescent during the pre-pottery Neolithic, centuries before later Near Eastern civilizations. It reveals how early sedentary communities organized collective labor and ritual practice around permanent structures, reshaping our understanding of the transition from nomadic to settled life.
categories:
- festival
taxonomy:
domain: scientific
eventTypes:
- discovery
canonicalClasses:
- creation
impactRadius: global
velocity: gradual
predictability: emergent
intentionality: planned
domainCoupling: multi_domain
lifecycleClass: birth
metaDescription: "Early Neolithic tower at Çayönü, Turkey (8650 BCE): monumental architecture before pottery or agriculture."
wikidataQid: Q701307
archiveSnapshots:
- url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20260402022230/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciyou_Temple"
  capturedAt: 2026-04-02
  label: Ciyou Temple
  originalUrl: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciyou_Temple"
gallery:
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Taipei_Ciyou_Temple_facade.jpg/1280px-Taipei_Ciyou_Temple_facade.jpg"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Taipei_Ciyou_Temple_facade.jpg/800px-Taipei_Ciyou_Temple_facade.jpg"
  caption: Ciyou Temple
  credit: Wikipedia · "Ciyou Temple"
  width: 330
  height: 220
